Lin-Manuel Miranda Wants to Play This Spider-Man Villain in a Marvel Movie

1 year ago

Ever since the hit musical Hamilton became a cultural sensation, the Broadway show’s creator and star, Lin-Manuel Miranda has been quite in demand. He recently provided some new music for the global blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming animated hit Moana, and he will also be starring in Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns alongside Emily Blunt, while also composing the musical for that project alongside Alan Menken. It seems that the music-minded performer wants to transition into the superhero world as well, revealing in a recent interview that he wants to play the comic book villain Carnage in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie.

There have been rumors that, in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming, Better Call Saul star Michael Mando is playing Carnage, but that has yet to be confirmed. If that character doesn’t appear in this upcoming movie, though, it’s possible that Lin-Manuel Miranda could be a serious contender for the role, despite his lack of superhero movie experience. Meet the Movie Press host Simon Thompson revealed during last week’s episode that he recently spoke with Lin-Manuel Miranda, where he said that playing Carnage is one of his big career goals. Here’s an excerpt from last week’s Meet the Movie Press below.

“[Miranda] is a big fan of Marvel. And there is one particular character that he would actually like to play. It’s Carnage. He said if Disney and Marvel were looking at doing a Maximum Carnage movie or bringing Carnage in [the MCU] as a character, he wants to be Carnage. Genuinely as a fan, he would love to play Carnage. That’s a goal of his.”

It’s also worth noting that, just last month, Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman teased that fans should expect “real news” about forthcoming Spider-Man spin-offs soon. The Sony executive didn’t offer any specifics, but it’s certainly possible that Carnage could be one of the characters to get his own movie. Having a global star like Lin-Manuel Miranda in the title role could certainly be something both Marvel and Sony would consider.

Carnage, a.k.a. Cletus Kasady, made his Marvel Comics debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #344, which was published in March 1991. Carnage’s comic book history is closely tied to Eddie Brock, a.k.a. Venom, with the two sharing a prison cell together in Rikers Island. When Eddie’s alien symbiote Venom returned, allowing him to escape from prison, the symbiote unknowingly left an offspring in the cell, which bonded with Kasady and caused the formation of Carnage. He then escaped prison himself and committed a number of murders, which lead to a showdown with Spider-Man.